Carmina Shoemaker: Back to the Future of Luxury

: In its brief history, Carmina Shoemaker had managed to carve a niche for itself in the exclusive world of classic Goodyear welted shoes, competing with such manufacturers of stature as Crockett & Jones, Church and Edward Green. The honesty behind its products, which offered outstanding quality at an affordable price, had been its competitive weapon to date. Based on its position in a discreet second tier compared with the large brands, Carmina Shoemaker won customers and fame day after day, taking advantage of the recent revival of Goodyear welted shoes. However, even though it had restored and developed this kind of shoe in Spain and despite its early focus on exports, it had new challenges to face: on the one hand, rising domestic competition with lower prices thanks to the outsourcing of part of the manufacturing process in some cases and, on the other hand, more sophisticated and exacting clients who demanded more and more personalization of the product, not forgetting the major firms in the sector, which were always present and had recognized brand authority. Carmina Shoemaker was still a small, family-owned company with few resources, and it had to choose its next step carefully. Was its current positioning sustainable? Should it be more ambitious and redouble its efforts to open stores outside Spain? If so, in what markets? How could it retain the younger segment of its clientele? In short, what direction and what pace of growth were right for the company?